Green Thumb Grasshoppers

When I was a little girl, I absolutely detested visiting plant and garden centres with my mom. I’d roll my eyes, drag my feet and count down the agonizing minutes until we could finally leave. That was, however, until I had my own garden to create in.

When J and I first moved in back in late September, the yard was an absolute mess. Before our boxes were unpacked, I was already calculating in my head the amount of sweat equity we’d need to put into the yard. The previous owner promised us a “garden full of flowers” come spring but at the time all I could see were weeds.

Since January, we’ve spent many weekends together weeding, back-filling, fertilizing, raking soil, spreading grass seed, building beds, planting seeds, making many trips to The Home Depot and offering the yard much tender, loving care. Things have recently started to bud and bloom, so I wanted to share with you the fruits of our back-breaking labour…

Jordy, for one, certainly enjoys having a yard to himself. Though if we aren’t watching, he tends to pick the dirt beds to lay down in.

J’s pretty proud of all the hard work he’s put into the yard…

…while I’m absolutely delighted that my strawberry patch is sprouting its first berries! Fresh, homemade strawberry mojitos are certainly in my near future!

Our hosta was an unrecognizable plant in the winter, so I ripped away everything dead and hoped for the best. Thankfully, it returned with a vengeance!

I’ve planted at least two dozen red onions and they’re all sprouting nicely. A little bit of marinade and they’re great on the grill!

A bit of a late bloomer, I wasn’t sure what we’d see from our rhododendron bush. But once it did start to bloom in the last two weeks, it’s been nothing short of magnificent. It’s at least eight feet tall!

Can you spot our first fig?

A few weeks ago, this area was bare earth. Grass seed and fertilizer has caused a rather lush lawn to pop up in its place!

J and I planted a number of vegetables, including carrots, peas, tomatoes, squash, cucumber and pumpkin. This particular garden bed is J’s pride and joy.

I only wish I’d taken a “before” photo of this corner. It was piled with garbage cans, garden hose, scrap wood and poor soil. It’s definitely the part of our yard that was given the biggest makeover and made the most dramatic transformation. I turned all the soil and pulled out rocks and roots from the soil while J built the garden bed and spread grass seed. Now it looks amazing!

Two of my favourite things: lovely lavender and joyful Jordy.

This corner reminds me of a wild, secret garden growing in the forest. I can’t bring myself to do anything other than water it and let it grow as it may.

Most of the herbs we planted we grew from seeds rather than buying pre-sprouted herbs. While it’s certainly exciting to see them finally grow, I’m not sure we’d do it again that way. Our tarragon and spearmint aren’t sprouting yet at all.

Our garlic, on the other hand, is definitely read to be transplanted into the garden beds!

Our first attempt together at developing green thumbs has, so far, been far more successful than I think either J or I imagined. All I need now is to plant tulip bulbs this Fall (we had no tulips in the Spring!) and make a quick trip to Valley Succulents – then I’m quite sure our garden will be complete!

Until June 1st, enter to win passes to the screening of Shellshocked with a wine and raw bar reception at the Stan Hagen Theatre in the Comox Valley as part of the BC Shellfish Festival. Enter here.

Until June 4th, enter to win a $100 gift card to the Grotto Spa in Parksville courtesy of Tyze Networks. Enter here.